You and Me Got a Whole Lot of History
by NoCityNoMan
Summary: Nick learns about Judy's past with foxes. SPOILERS.
Judy Hopps has been friends with Nick Wilde for almost two whole action-filled months now, and she has never seen him this nervous. Not when they accidentally fell off a waterfall. Not when he had to pretend to be savage and attack her. Only slightly when she threatened him with tax evasion, and even then he kept his cool with his trademark dry wit, which is oddly reassuring to her now.

Right now, on the 9 am train from Zootopia to Bunny Burrough, he has no cool. He has no dry wit. He is utterly silent, but fidgety. She watches, partially amused, as he loosens his tie. Then tightens it. Then loosens it again. Tightens. Loosens. Tightens. Loosens. Tightens-

"Alright, enough," Judy slaps a paw over his that's messing with his tie, and he finally looks at her. "Why are you so nervous?"

Nick makes an "isn't it obvious" scoff, "I'm about to meet your parents, your _rabbit_ parents. I don't think I have to remind you there's going to be some tension."

"There won't be tension," She reassures him. "My parents have a business partnership with a fox. Besides, I think we're enough proof that the two species can get along."

"I dunno, I kind of hate you for making you do this to me." He raises his eyebrows slyly at her.

"Making you?" She repeats, laughing. "You practically _begged_ me let you tag along, because you wanted more blueberries."

He goes into press conference mode, "Do I like your family's blueberries? Yes, yes I-"

"Don't pull that with me," She scrunches her nose in slight annoyance. "Think of it this way, even if everything goes wrong-"

"Totally reassuring."

"And my parents utterly hate you-"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Carrots."

" _Then_ " She barrels on, "You'll at least get the blueberries."

Nick leans against the railing of the train, "I do love those blueberries. Especially since they saved our lives."

Judy nods in agreement, "Plus, the fox they work with- Gideon Gray- makes the best blueberry pie with them." She wanted to surprise him with that fact at the farm, but he seems so riled up that she has to spring it on him.

Nick's ears perk up, "Blueberry pie?"

"Yep. The best," She emphasizes, "Think you can make it through one night at my parents'?"

"For blueberry pie? Absolutely." She hits him in the arm, and he rubs at the forming injury, "Fine, you too." He spares her his aren't-I-so-suave smile that makes her knees a bit weak.

Judy grins as the train pulls into the Bunny Burroughs stop, and they get down from their perch to grab their overnight bags.

Judy hasn't been home in a couple of weeks because she has had a lot of petty crimes to deal with (thanks Weaselton) and Nick hasn't been able to stop at all by due to the fact the first month of the academy is intensely rigorous. Judy was able to convince Mayor Lionheart and Chief Bogo to give him a boosting in the standings for officer due to his already-stellar crime-solving record, so he only has to complete the training in three months rather than six. She's been helping him study and he's really good at memorizing all the police codes and laws.

"10-23," Judy quizzes happily, which means _arrived at scene_ , expecting him to translate.

Nick just slips on his sunglasses, a smirk playing on his muzzle, "10-3." _Stop transmitting_.

She rolls her eyes and steps off the train, but immediately brightens when she sees her family. She runs off to hug them, and she's practically buried in the familiar fur.

"Thank god, you're still alive!" Her dad says, already tearing up.

"Yes, you should get that from my phone calls," She says, but she knows they mean well. "So nice to see everyone, but first, I need to introduce you to future police officer and my future partner, Nick Wilde."

Sheepishly, Nick steps up to them as he takes off his sunglasses. "Hi... all of you."

Judy hides her amusement as the hug pile goes for him. Luckily, he's a good sport.

"I'm Bonnie, and this is Stu," Her mom introduces. "And you can learn the others' names soon, but I doubt that you'll be able to get them in just one day."

"Nick has a really good memory," Judy offers. Nick's eyes flick over at her. "But 275 _is_ a lot. He'll learn eventually."

"C'mon, I bet you're beat from travelling. Let's get you back to the farm," Her dad says, and they load up to get to the family farm.

+x+

At the family farm, Nick is a great help with some of the harvesting and he fits in quite well. He plays with her siblings, and she can tell her parents don't have any reservations against him. "You didn't have anything to worry about," Judy tells him, pleased, as they hold down the stand.

"Yeah, yeah, you were right," He says, but he's smiling. He reaches into the blueberry basket and grabs a pawful.

"You have an addiction," Judy teases.

Nick pops one into his mouth and says mockingly, "I can't help that your family grows 'em so delicious, Carrots."

Before she can respond, her mom wraps an arm around the two of them, appearing from out of nowhere. "Ooh, I'm so glad you two are friends again! I also just love that you can be friends in the first place-" She starts.

And her dad continues, also appearing from nowhere, "After what happened with you and Gideon, and all."

Judy freezes as Nick looks at her, confused. She hadn't told him about Gideon yet.

"What happened with you and Gideon?" Nick asks, something off in his tone.

"Well-" She's about to avoid explaining it when salvation comes with Gideon's bakery truck coming to a stop right in front of them.

"Howdy, Hopps family!" Gideon greets, cheery. "Got a whole tray of goodies for ya- Is that the fox that Judy solved crimes with?" He spots Nick first, then sees Judy. "And Judy herself! How's it going?" Judy steps out from behind the produce stand and shakes his paw.

"Nice seeing you, Gideon. Business going well?"

"Busy as ever!" He's beaming. "Actually, we're booming! I guess I have you two to thank for it," He gestures to Judy and Nick.

Nick raises an eyebrow, "Me? I- Us?"

"Yeah!" Gideon says and walks over to Nick and shakes his paw extensively. "Not these lovely folks, but I know some prey had problems working with predators, especially foxes, but after you two became known the partners and solved the Night Howler case- Well, I," He adjusts his overalls. "Well everyone wants to do business with me."

Judy watches Nick as Gideon speaks. His poker face is stellar, but she can see him warm a little,

"Well-" He's about to say something but Bonnie takes over.

"As they should! Why you are just the darn best baker in the Tri-Burroughs!" Her mom says, cheerfully. "Let me get your fruits."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"So Gideon, how's the wife?" Judy says, stepping back to the stand, and makes conversation, and hope that Nick will be distracted enough to not remember.

+x+

It works. Judy and Nick are getting ready for bed. Her family doesn't often have guests over, so they just make him an inflatable mattress and keep it in her room.

All set up cosy in bed and in the darkness of her childhood room, she's about to wish Nick "sweet dreams" when he says, "What happened with you and Gideon?"

Dangit. She was so close.

"It was a long time ago," Judy says carefully, "Besides, we're friends now-"

"Yeah, you're friends with everyone," Nick says, and it's not even mean. "What happened before that?"

"It really isn't that big of a deal."

"Then you should be able to tell me."

She twists so she's laying on her side and looking over at him in the darkness. She can barely just see his eyes reflecting from the remaining light in the window, but she knows he can probably see her a bit better.

"I was nine," Judy begins, figuring it would be best to just get it over with, "And I had just starred in a play where I talked about the history of prey and predators and how I wanted to go to Zootopia, which was like this... utopia of acceptance to me, where I could become a police officer. And Gideon..." She thinks back to the memory, "Well, back then he was a bully, and he made it clear that he didn't think a dumb bunny could or should be a cop."

Nick says nothing, so she continues, "After the play, there was a carnival, and Gideon was bullying my friends, who are prey. And he stole my friend's prize tickets, claiming that it was just like predators like him did. And, I'll admit, I was feeling a bit brave in my police costume, so I walked over and demanded he give back the tickets. He refused, and shoved me down, so I kicked him in the face."

Nick chuckles, lowly, "I bet you did."

Judy smiles slightly, because she likes that he was proud of her. "But then... He didn't like that. So he clawed me across the face."

Nick says nothing, again, but this time she can feel the anger emanating from him. "He did what?"

"You can't even see the claw mark scars, and they weren't that deep," She says. "But it wasn't that big a deal."

She can hear him moving, and suddenly she can feel him breathing in front of your face. "Can I?" His voice is so soft, and so serious. It makes her nervous.

She nods, at a loss for words, but then realizes he can't probably see the motion. She fumbles for his paw, then places it where the wound is. Most of her fur grew back over it, but you can feel the ridges from the healed skin. His finger is gentle against her skin, and she doesn't flinch. In fact, she almost nuzzles into it.

"I hate the fact you got hurt, Carrots," He says, voice still low, like any louder and this whole... thing will shatter. She hopes it doesn't. "Wait." His paw pulls away. "Is this- Is this why you were afraid of me?"

Judy clears her throat, sitting up a bit more, "I wasn't afraid of you-"

"You were afraid of foxes," He says, and his voice is a bit harsher, but she can tell he's not mad at her. "And is this why?"

She's silent for a moment. "Yes."

She hears him flop against his bed, and she can hear him laugh, but it's humorless, "I can't believe you didn't tell me."

"It didn't come up-" She sits up.

"You had every right to be scared of foxes!" Nick says, and she hears him flail at the lamp before the light is on. He stands and starts pacing. "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"Well, I was focused on the case-"

"But it's been a month since," Nick says, coming to a stop. He sits on her bed and cocks his head at her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Judy honestly doesn't know. "I don't know I just... I didn't think it was important."

"Judy, you got assaulted, that's pretty important-"

"It's been over ten years, closer to twenty," Judy says, voice hopefully soothing. "Besides, I guess I... I guess I thought I was better than a prejudice against foxes, and didn't want that to be true." She looks down.

Nick tilts her chin up so she's looking at him, "Out of everybody, I think I'd understand," He says, his voice soft and gentle again, and she knows he's thinking about the scouts. "But, you trust _me_ right?"

She holds her paw against his so he's holding her face again, "Of course, Partner."

He smirks at her, "Not your partner yet."

"Soon enough." She smiles back, then pats at his paw. "Now get some sleep, we have to be up early for the crops."

Nick groans, playfully annoyed, "You rabbits are slave drivers."

"We are carrot farmers," She corrects and gently shoves him off her bed and he flops onto his. "And don't you forget it."

He smiles up at her as she goes to turn off the light. "How could I? Night, Jude."

"Night, Nick."


End file.
